An Eternally Misplaced Person

“Ahtisaari is the only man I know who has made peace on three continents.” Kofi Annan

Martti Ahtisaari is a hero of mine. As the President of Finland (1994-2000) he entered us into the EU and helped our country fight severe economic depression, but the majority of his career has been spent working for the foreign office and the UN making him a highly respected peace negotiator and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Choosing not to put himself forward for a second term in office, after his presidency Ahtisaari set up Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), an independent non-profit organisation based in Finland that “works to resolve conflict and to build sustainable peace.” During his astonishing career Ahtisaari has negotiated peace from Namibia and Kosovo to most recently Indonesia. Part of the group ‘The Elders’ with Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu, and a champion of women’s involvement in peace talks, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 “for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.”

On Friday the 4th of May as a guest of the Scandinavian Society, he spoke at my old college at the University of Oxford. I was lucky enough to get to talk to him and shake his hand. Continue Reading →